In an era where beauty routines and cosmetic products continue to advance on a daily basis, the beauty industry is recognized as a fast-paced, ever-evolving, new-and-improved market place. Yet when it comes to lip care, time seems to be standing still. Specifically, when it comes to lip exfoliation tools, consumers simply do not have the commensurate options that exist in many of the other areas.
For example, instruction labels for lip exfoliants recommend consumers apply the product using fingers, which provides the least effective method to receive a rich lather and achieve a deep exfoliation. Moreover, using one's finger may require more product to fulfill a higher grade of exfoliation. As a solution, lip scrub users opt for items such as mascara wands and toothbrushes which are not only abrasive, but many of which are petroleum based and potentially toxic. Yet, named items are being misused for lack of an available, properly designed beauty tool that does not negatively impact the user, create health risks, produce harmful effects from long term usage, and pose a threat to the environment. In short, there is no safe applicator option for lip scrubs.
The option of using an old brush is often preferred over a new brush, as the bristles are frayed, tattered, and worn, so users opt for a seemingly safer and gentler surface. Dental experts and research show this is not only unhygienic, but is a major health concern for lips as old toothbrushes carry significant, embedded buildup of dental plaque, hardened toothpaste, bacteria film secretions and saliva, and even small deposits of food. When removing dry, chapped skin cells, bacteria can easily enter through cracks in the lips and lead to fungal and bacterial diseases such as Angular Cheilitis.
Furthermore, using a new toothbrush presents its own set of risks. The bristles of a new toothbrush are not designed for the lip's surface, as they are too firm and stiff to use on soft, delicate skin and can even pierce or rub the skin raw. Most toothbrushes use petroleum based materials and bristles which are potentially toxic. Specifically, the use of medium or hard bristles should be avoided as using such abrasive techniques on lip sensitive surfaces may lead to adverse and harmful effects for the skin's elasticity, and can be more damaging over time. In example, as humans age, there is a loss of skin elasticity, as well as a decrease of collagen production, all of which are essential to lips for providing plumpness and fullness, and countering wrinkles. This makes this particular skin more vulnerable to rough interaction, susceptible to wrinkles, and threatens the ability to return to its natural fullness with repeated exposure to such harmful practices.
Of these egregiously, outdated methods of exfoliating lips, the technique that poses the greatest potential health risk, is also sworn by top beauty artists, magazines, and bloggers. The toothbrush method consists of using an old, new, or actively-in-use toothbrush to scrub away broken and chapped skin from the lip's surface. The variations of this method are as troubling as they are vast, including harmful and abrasive techniques such as using dry soft, medium, or hard bristled brushes on dry and sensitive skin. Other techniques being used range from using one's finger to old mascara wands, cottons swabs, and washcloths. Additionally, none of these products were designed to interact with the delicate nature of the lips which is made up of 2-3 layers of skin versus the face which has 16 layers of skin. This is demonstrated by the fact that many of these products contain harsh materials that are detrimental to the skin's surface, as they were never designed to perform as lip exfoliators, lip scrub applicators or lip priming devices.
It is therefore an objective of the present invention to provide a brush apparatus that is able to solve the above-mentioned problems.